EARLY INTERVENTION HOME METHODOLOGY

Evaluation covers the period 5/78-4/80 and is based on tests of experimental and control groups in Peru. The project, which terminated in 4/80, successfully developed and implemented a home intervention methodology in two urban and four rural communities, reaching a total of 376 families. Paraprofessional training was provided to 52 community women, who then made weekly home visits to teach early childhood education, health, hygiene, and nutrition. Curricula for rural and urban settings were revised, and training manuals for both paraprofessionals and parents were produced. Although A.I.D. inputs were timely, logistic support was insufficient and more funds should have been allocated for evaluation. One member of the technical assistance team should have been assigned on a long-term basis to alleviate the strain placed on project staff to do too much too quickly. Other factors affecting the project were two lengthy teachers" strikes and administrative changes in the implementing agency. Peru"s economic crisis significantly lowered food consumption among the target group, making it difficult to assess the project"s nutritional impact. The impact on child development was greater in rural than in urban areas, implying a more urgent need for rural programs of this type. The project was found comparable in cost to other non-formal education programs and will be extended by the Government of Peru (GOP). Results of the project have been disseminated throughout Peru, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Bolivia. AID/W is also disseminating information to personnel in Missions, IBRD, the Organization of American States, and other donors. The project showed that regional projects do not adequately involve host country governments in the planning stages and that budgetary and resource assumptions are adversely affected by the regional focus. Important unplanned effects were the number of contacts initiated outside Peru and the GOP"s decision to extend the program to children under three.